Best Careers: Emergency Management Specialist

As far as emergency management job search goes, I would suggest looking into universities and colleges in your area. A lot of them are getting Emergency Management in Higher Education grants from Department of Education, and therefore are looking to hire emergency management specialists or simply people interested in emergency management. That's how I got my current job in one of the universities in Massachusetts. The only downside is that the grants usually last only for 2 years, so you are not guaranteed a job past that time. But I think it's a good way to get your foot in the door and gain some experience.

Anna of MA 1:23PM February 14, 2012

Meant to type "on a regular basis" in my comment below......

David G. of IL 9:09PM September 03, 2011

@Christie Ray. I also am looking for disaster/emergency management opportunities in Delaware but cant seem to find much. Would you be willing to share what you have found/learned? I would greatly appreciate any help or information anyone has to offer!

Matt of DE 11:43AM August 08, 2011

For all of you guys looking for Emergency Management Internships its best to look at county government and major city government. Every state is mandated to have an emergency management agency. At most local levels of government it typically is a fire or police employee. If you are willing to leave the state Illinois is pretty progressive for Emergency Management. You can even contact the group IESMA and they will assist you in getting an internship in Illinois.

Just a few other things to clear up too. It is required by Federal Law for all levels of government to be NIMS compliant. Depending on the level of responsibility an employee has, it is required to have various training (ICS 100 & ICS 200, NIMS 700 and NIMS 800 for entry level position, and ICS 300 & ICS 400 for command level staff. The first four classes should be taken before you even begin to apply since they are free on FEMA.

@Jen some of the places you are applying to may be seeing you more as a Public Health Professional (Emergency Management at the fed level=FEMA, Public Health= CDC). Although most EM departments could certainly use your background typically they look for first responder backgrounds or emerging emergency management degrees.

@Gator that is something that I hear quite often. However, most people are not paid that much unless they work for a large county or large city. Most smaller jurisdictions are part time or have their fire or police chief handle it. However, that becomes a problem for larger jurisdictions and when emergencies occur. If an emergency occurs you don't typically want to steal from peter to pay paul (take away from fire or police response and bring them to planning). The ideas and concepts behind this are to look at the big picture and make sure all of the various departments that are under the umbrella of that jurisdiction. For example any given disaster could include your fire, police, emergency medical services, public works, elected officials, public health and many other agencies not under your jurisdiction (volunteers, non-for-profits, major utilities, hazardous facilities). And although you may still believe that a small contingent of your fire fighters or police can complete those objectives trust me the duties they were hired to do will suffer. Most disaster are not over in a day, a week or even a month. Federal reimbursement that we are charged with obtaining if it is available for a disaster easily enters the millions of dollars that will assist local residents and government agencies (and in a time of tight budget constraints it is fiscally irresponsible to not devote resources previous to the disaster to ensure this goal can be achieved). What I am trying to say is that the intricacies of various aspects of the job aren't known unless you see it up front.

Emer Manager of IL 5:50PM March 02, 2011